Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Sept. 19 purchased DailyDeal, a Berlin-based daily deals Website that competes with Groupon, LivingSocial and others in Germany.
Launched in December 2009, DailyDeal has 200 employees and offers local deals of 50 to 90 percent off from restaurants, travel destinations, entertainment venues and retail outlets in more than 90 cities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the United States.
Consumers procure local deals much as they do via Groupon and LivingSocial, paying via debit card, credit card and PayPal. DailyDeal claims to have sold more than 252,000 vouchers in the first three months of 2011.
Updated: Google confirmed the buy for eWEEK, noting: “As more and more people go online to find the latest, most relevant deals, we’re exploring new ways to help consumers get the best local deals out there. The DailyDeal team has an incredible track record in this space, and we look forward to working with them.”
DailyDeal confirmed the purchase in a letter on its Website:
“We see great opportunity to better connect businesses with consumers on a much larger scale, and we have found a team that shares our vision. That’s why we’re excited to announce that we’ve been acquired by Google!” wrote DailyDeal co-founders (and brothers) Fabian and Ferry Heilemann.
“By combining our expertise with the Offers team at Google, we hope to expand our efforts to provide even greater deals to consumers.”
The buy should help Google expand its Google Offers Groupon clone, which currently toils only in the United States in New York, San Francisco and a couple dozen other cities overseas.
Offers could use the extra muscle; Local deal aggregatorYipit claimed Offers was getting soundly beaten by Groupon and LivingSocial in the nascent, but heavily copycatted local deals market.
Offers is expected to serve as the main incentive for consumers to use Google Wallet, the mobile payment service the company is expected to launch Sept. 19 to allow shoppers to pay for goods by tapping their mobile phones at cash registers.
DailyDeal isn’t the first bid to add punch to Offers. Google acquired deals aggregator (and Yipit rival) The DealMap, loyalty card technology provider Punchd and digital coupon provider Zave Networks, all to bolster its local commerce services.